Cotton farmers in Mali are being saved through organic farming and a business enterprise.
The Mali cotton industry provides an income for about a quarter of its population, and its downfall spells disaster for the country. However, thanks to organic crop production, this vital industry is being saved and is slowly turning in the right direction, largely thanks to the Utuwah enterprise.
The profitable trading house specialises in high-quality organic products from the North African country. It provides a link between large corporate investors from the West and the country’s small-scale farmers who provide cotton of the highest quality. According to farmers in Mali, they are still making use of generations’-old farming methods, and harvest their cotton crops by hand. This allows the delicate cotton fibres to remain intact; something that doesn’t always happen when machines such as combine harvesters are used. The farmers also refuse to use pesticides and other chemicals on their crops, and this ensures that the cotton is clean and chemical-free.
According to one of the farmers, this chemical-free method is vital for his success as producer.
I grow organic cotton because I can get a good price for it. I don’t use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, so I don’t have many overhead costs. I use natural products such as oil from the Koby tree and from the Neem tree. I also grow Okra and Hibiscus plants to chase the insects away from the cotton.”
Using the Yiriwa business concept, the farmers are producing not only the highest quality cotton, but also organic soy beans, peanuts and sesame. They are chemical-free, like the cotton, and are also sold at a premium price. The shareholders of Yiriwa are farmers in the cotton industry, and through this enterprise they are bettering the cotton trade in Mali, better positioning themselves as farmers and business people, as well as strengthening and building the industry for future farmers. This is a great opportunity for these organic farmers, as their machine-using rivals are losing ground in the quality of product provided.
At the factory, they often found sand in the cotton. People were paying for sand and that’s not right.”
Mali’s cotton farmers are taking the bull by the hands and are forcing the industry to take note of them. Through this, the economy of Mali is being strengthened, and poverty is slowly being farmed out.
Cotton farmers in Mali are being saved through organic farming and a business enterprise.
